"My moth- Oh, no." Aurora paled and took a cellphone out of her pocket with lightning speed, speed-dialing a number while taking a bit of distance from the others. "Hi, Mom, I- yes, Mom, I know. No, I- Mom! Yes, I'm all right, I'm still at Valda's and I'll be late. No, I don't know when, may spend the night. Mom. Mom! I'm nineteen, I can handle myself! Yes. Yes, no worries. I'll take Reason."
She excused herself for a moment, heading outside for a second, and came in with a black raven on her shoulder, then rejoined the company just before Nurai started her explanation. "Don't worry about the mead" she whispered to Valda. [/b]"That's for feasting after a job well done. Not appropriate yet."[/b]
Once the woman was finished, she spoke briefly. "I discovered that someone fled from the bathroom window, which is extremely small. And I got some sort of a theory, but I believe that Miyu and Solomon are more suited to presenting it."
"the stories all involved them being with two other people, the trio all spotted doing drug together before they came in and while in here they were all seen talking, dancing, being quite physically amorous with each other."
"What were they wearing?' Jennifer asks, pulling out a strip of purple cloth. "I found this outside where something probably jumped from the fire escape and landed heavily on the AC unit."
Dancing, chatting and charming through the crowd, you find out that two people were seen talking to the dragon while he was in human form. And dancing with him. And kissing him. One was a Dhampir named Jared Rand, the other a dark haired woman with a silver chain necklace and a pale purple dress with a red sash around her waist. One of the people you talk to says that they saw the three doing some kind of drugs before entering the club.
It looks like something fell heavily onto the AC and then onto the fire escape. A scrap of dark velvet, a midnight purple, is caught in the casing where the dent ripped the metal and left a sharp edge.
"The window has some sort of condensation that froze up outside where none of the other windows do, but that's all I found."
"Details on the body first." Miyu answered mildly, ceding the floor to Doctor Solomon.
Solomon came out of the bathroom with his jacket draped over his shoulders, his top two buttons open, his hair a bit tousled, his sleeves rolled up, cleaning his glasses with his ever-present handkerchief. He noted the gathering at the bar and headed over, taking a seat. "Rye whiskey, if you please. American." He said with a nod to Tom, although the bar had the appearance of being closed. He addressed the others with his findings.
"Well, I can say conclusively that the creature was slain by the neck wound, inflicted by an undead of some kind. Given the markings, I'm guessing a vampire. However, the victim was largely devoid of blood by the time the fatal attack occurred, suggesting it may have been fed upon by another vampire previously. When I spoke to the other guests, it seemed that our Mr Body had been dancing with two others; I'd venture a guess that they may have been vampires, warming up their prey before the kill. But much of that is mere speculation. All I know for certain is that he, or 'it', was drained of blood and killed by the bite wound in the neck, originating from a male undead of roughly human size."
Solomon paused for the others to take it in, then addressed Valda. "I'm not a vampire slayer, Miss Simmons, but there are people that handle that sort of thing. I can refer you to someone if needed, though I'm not sure I know any available on short notice. More to the point, however, I'm not sure how this all plays into the apparent setup that has caused our current predicament." He looked around the room inquiringly. "Thoughts?"
As Solomon mentioned vampires, Aurora pumped her fist. "Called it!"
Then, after his explanation, she spoke more calmly. "I don't like the undead. They are the polar opposite of what I stand for, I do want to assist you. It would likely scare my Mom out of her wits, though... I'll have to think about it, talk to her. Mind if I give you an answer tomorrow?"
Nurai looked at the cloth Jennifer held with careful attention for a few moments before shaking her head, "Interesting...not a match to anything I heard. The mystery woman was said to be wearing a light purple dress - red sash on her waist, silver chain necklace, dark hair...nothing about any of them wearing velvet - I think that would have stood out to most people. Weird about the windows...and jumping off the fire escape..." Nurai replied, leaning back in her chair as she began listening to Doctor Soloman's findings, considered what was being said, glancing down at her lap now and then. The shadow laid mostly still there, if not in the right position to look natural in the lighting.
"The Dhampir Jared Rand and the woman no one knew could have been warming them up with the drugs and making out and such...or, if it's a set up, their relationships would make a great cover for someone else to use. Or a complicated mix of the two." Nurai shrugged. Things are rarely simple or how they first appear, though it woul be nice if it were. Talking to Jared seemed a priority, if not one Nurai would jump at doing...
At Doctor Solomon's words, Miyu smiled slightly. "If they need to be put out of our misery, I can manage something." she noted quietly. As an exorcist, getting rid of unnatural creatures - which most definitely included the undead - was something of a specialty of hers. With some added help, she was fairly confident they could manage it. More to the point, though, these vampires sounded like very good suspects for planting the body and trying to encourage the fey to act... hastily. Which made them someone Miyu definitely wanted to talk to.
Placing a boittle of templeton and a shot glass on the table for the good doctor Tom continues. "We also had a nasty nix in attendance. She was missing too after the body was lost. Couldn't tell you if they're connected. Just a feeling." As he finishes putting away the drinks he continues. "I've got a feeling our boy might have killed her on accident. If they were fed on before. Maybe got a thrill out of it. A combination of drugs, frustration, and maybe a bit of set up and he goes too far, panics, and takes off. Our nix friend could have taken off out the window. They're small enough to do that, and rumor has she's got a nasty reputation outside of town. I'm thinking it's not so easy as to think the vampire got them."
At Doctor Solomon's words, Miyu smiled slightly. "If they need to be put out of our misery, I can manage something."
Solomon peered at the girl suspiciously. He'd seen her invoke minor magic this evening, but he was having trouble accepting that she might be able to survive an encounter with a vampire, much less defeat one. His doubt was clearly written on his face even as he sipped his drink.
"I'm thinking it's not so easy as to think the vampire got them."
"I'm not sure any other undead could've left those marks, unless it was some other intelligent undead meaning to mislead us into a wild vampire chase, so to speak." Solomon responded, shrugging.
Thomas shrugs. "You'd know better than me doc." Putting the last of the glasses away and putting the sign up he steps out of the bar hauling his back pack. "Either way we wont know for sure till we catch Jared. Maybe marastaras involved, maybe not. Jared will know either way."
Nurai listened with interest, "It does seem Jared is among the best leads, how would you recommend approaching him? With either the victim being his mark and/or someone Jared at least enjoyed the company of, if not cared about and may be being used by someone else to set Jared up...it's a delicate situation before throwing in the dhampir angle..." Nurai asked glancing to the others and Valda. Nurai didn't know him or the area well enough to make a plan on this, and so much was outside her usual experiences, mixed and varied as they were. She started to stand as Tom comes around the bar, the shadow on her legs rolls very slowly - and sulkily - to the floor.
"Give me a minute." Miyu said, drawing a paper from her ofuda holder. "Oh, keep talking if you want. You won't distract me." As she focused on it, an arrow appeared on one side, and she spun it around in the air. It rotated there, faster and faster for far longer than it should have been able to stay up without gravity pulling it down, and Miyu's voice took on a certain edge as she spoke in a tongue that wasn't at all human. The Celestial language seemed better for questions like this, though. <"Is it better to approach Jared peacefully?"> Her auguries were a moderately reliable source of information. A 'Weal' - or positive - result had the paper end up pointing directly away from her. A 'Woe' result had it pointed to her instead. For both Weal and Woe, it pointed to her right - and for no response, to her left. And in this case, it pointed...
"Jared's always been a wannabe," Valda mused out loud, "Someone cashing in on the fact that Daddy - or Mommy - was a Nosferatu to impress folks with less mojo. He was definitely the kind to wear velvet, and there were a lot of rumours that he embraced the blood drinking side of his heritage...although more to cash in on mother lovin' Twilight fans than anything else." Valda shrugged. "I know where he lives, though, if you folks want to talk to him. And we likely should talk to him. Vampire hunters tend to take the stabby approach to bloodsucking problems. Stake them first, steak for themselves second and never bother asking questions."
"Do you recognize the other woman Jared and the dead guy were seen with?"
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Shaking her head, Valda replied, "No, and I know most of the hot girls by reputation if not better." Glancing at the younger members of the group, she added, "Because of reasons."
"Huh." Miyu said, snatching the card out of the air. She tore it in half down the long end a moment later - a used ofuda was no good for other things, and tearing it this way helped to dispel its lingering energies and render it nothing more than a harmless bit of paper. Proper disposal of magical things was quite important. "It looks like trying the peaceful approach would be fine, but it would probably be best to avoid putting too much pressure on him." she reported, not actually explaining how she was getting her information. A girl had to maintain a certain amount of mystery, after all.
"Well I'm not one to start a conversation with bullets regardless. Tom, what was the man's drink of choice? It might serve us to... relax his inhibitions a bit." Solomon said, donning his coat and grabbing his cane. "Should we see him tonight or in the morning? Both have their advantages."
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Nurai failed to hold back a chuckle at Valda's response, " 'Because of reasons', good one, I may have to borrow that the next time one of my mothers or housemates asks how I know someone...though I think I've heard you use the 'knowing hot women by reputation' as a pick up line a few times before..." she remarked, her smile warming up with her chuckle.
Glancing to Miyu and Doctor Solomon as they spoke, Nurai nodded, " I'll admit, most of my experience with the... predatory side is wolf bloods and other skinwalkers rather than undead types - other than one friend of my mothers' but discussing that would be beyond impolite - so I'm not sure of the advantages one way or the other. I figured it's mostly how many of us are up to trying to gently talk to a Dhampir who sounds like they have a flair for the dramatics while being so unsure of his role in this." Nurai shrugged casually as she looked around to the others.
Aurora watched Miyu's actions intently. "Those are paper charms, right?" she asked once her ritual was completed. "The kind that Shinto shrine maidens use against spirits? Are you a shrine maiden yourself?"
"Hah, no. I don't think I'm respectable enough for that." Miyu answered with an amused look. "My techniques were based on their style, though, with a couple other traditions thrown in for good measure. There's a lot of weird stuff in the world, after all, and I wanted to be flexible enough to handle whatever popped up."
Aurora nodded at Miyu before getting back into the conversation. "I've got decent social skills, and should things go bad I can be quite persuasive. If you want to, I can be the first to speak to him." And I can stick him with a length of metal should he try something. Maybe he's just a Twilight wannabe, but he may be manipulated by someone more dangerous.
The raven on her shoulder cawed in disapproval.
Valda chuckled at Nurai's comment. "Well, I have met your mothers. It had to happen somehow. My hot-people-radar was working that day."
Considering, Valda offered the opinion, "If it was me, and I was trying to keep him calm, I'd go at night. He might not be a full-blooded vamp, but half-bloods like him are still more comfortable before dawn, and he plays the role. Go in daytime and you'll like as not get him out his coffin."
"Plus, he's the only lead we've got. The sooner the better before something unexpected happens."
Thomas rolls his eyes at the.mention of the mana drink. "He likes to drink corpse revivers. Pretentious French crap given a dumb name he only buys to make himself look the part better. Not worth it given how much decent imports cost."
Thomas stretches a bit to work out stiff muscles before taking a seat next to him. "Im all for the helpful concerned friend approach but lets keep it straightforward. I may have to shoot this guy so let's not play any stupid games with him."
"Try not to shoot him until you're sure," Valda said with a paine expression as she tapped on her phone. "Speak with Dead is never as useful as you'd think it would be." After a moment your phones buzzed, a message containing the address and directions to Jared's house. "There. Now, I'm going to try and get some information on the Hunt and see if I can get the Fey to tell me anything. You lovely people see what you can find out from Jared. Have fun. And be good." Valda paused. "Well, decent." She considered for another moment. "Just...try not to burn anything down."
~~~
Jared's home is on the outskirts of town, a three-story house in a decent plot of land. Trees lined the drive leading up to the building. Unfortunately, normal stopped on reaching the house. Although certainly not built in the era, the home had been remodelled to look more like a gothic manor house. The grounds were artfully overgrown, the path carefully broken. It was, in fact, about as pretentious as you could get.
A huge black Cadillac sat at the top of the drive, but the windows were dark. Of course, the fact they seem to have been painted black probably had something to do with that.
Nurai shook her head with a wry smile at Valda's remark about her mothers. Dozens of ways to respond came to mind but having walked so easily into the last one, she refrained and kept listening. At the hostess's parting comment, Nurai's light chuckle returned as she adjusted her leathers as she stood.
"Anyone need a ride? I have extra helmets..." Nurai asked, glancing to the others while walking to the door, her shadow following slowly behind her. As the shadow slowed Nurai's reflexes slightly and could be very distracting, she almost always sent them away when in charge of her motorcycle or any other vehicle even with the boost it gave in protection. Messing with the bags on her bike for a few minutes was a good cover for doing so that Nurai and the shadow had used for years.
~~~
Nurai followed the other cars, both because she was unfamiliar with the area and to avoid some of the bigger cars being behind her in an area where she was unfamiliar. Pulling the bike in as out of sight as she could manage for an unknown area, she remained sitting on her bike for a few minutes as she waited to spot the others from their vehicles and looked the area over for a few minutes...
Aurora frowned slightly at the mention of guns, but said nothing until Nurai's offer. "No need, I have my-"
Aurora stopped halfway through her phrase. As much as she enjoyed being considered for an assignment, she wasn't yet comfortable with people knowing her real nature, and her phantom flying steed was exceedingly conspicuous, even if she masked it with mist and clouds. Look for the simplest solution, Aurora.
"-no, nevermind. If someone could give me a ride, I'd appreciate it."
~~~
Arrived at the place, Aurora looked at the mansion. "Wow. No wonder Valda told us not to burn down the place, I surely feel like it. It looks like a bad ripoff of Castlevania."
"I've got my bike but it's less intimidating if we show up in as few cars as possible I thought I saw a massive SUV here is that one of yours? I can pile into that."
On the road Thomas caught a quick nap. The old soldiers trick of catching sleep literally anywhere coming in handy as he fought off the fatigue. Getting out of the suv and witnessing the deliberate haunted house antics Thomas shurgged as he checked his pistol out of sight of the windows before going to it.
"Well let's hope he hasn't paid extra for the flying medusa heads and aggressive acrobatic midgets. I think I should knock first to at least present a familiar face. After that, if the ladies want to give a nicer face to talk to we can go from there. Sound good?"
Miyu did catch a ride with someone - quite frankly, it was easier that way, and she looked up at the house with a faintly bemused look. "...Um." she said. "Sweet Yidhra I hate pop culture sometimes." the exorcist muttered. "Do you want to go up first and make friend with him, Aurora?" she asked. "I can give you a bit of good luck if you're nervous."
"What if you scare him off?" Jennifer asks Thomas as she remotely locks her SUV doors and drops the key fob into her pocket. "Maybe we should surround the house."
Solomon had only just touched his whiskey, so he decided it was better to drive himself than potentially be put in a difficult situation. He didn't trust other people's driving anyway, and he certainly wasn't about to climb into that aberration of an SUV or on the back of some supernatural's bike. Besides that, he had the BMW configured perfectly for his comfort, and it was kept clean and tidy; he couldn't say as much for most other people's cars.
Arriving at the property, he flicked off his headlights and sat for a moment. He pulled out the card Jennifer had handed him and dialed the number.
"Yes, Jennifer? It's Solomon. If it's all the same to the rest of you, I think I'll wait out here and rest my eyes a bit. I don't want to swarm the poor man. I'm not always the best at making new friends anyway. But if you think things may be taking a turn for the worse, just call or text me and I'll be right there." He opened the glove box to reveal a small black case and placed it in the seat next to him. "Let's hope I don't need this." He thought to himself as he leaned his seat back.
"I can go ahead witout any problem, pretend that oh, I saw him at the party, and, like, his style was sooo on point." Towards the end, her voice shifted to a mockery. "If he's so sure of his charm, I can try and pass us off as just some friends looking for an afterparty. And thanks for the offer of luck, it may help. Now just a second for preparation..."
Cold wind suddenly howled around the girl as she clutched her pendant. "Grundir gjalla!" she said in a clear voice as soft magic spread from her, leaving hints of memories in her companions, a sleeping knowledge of old martial arts.
"Ok. Let's go."
Thomas frowned but nodded at Auroras suggestion. "Fine but we drop the act as soon as we're in." Turning to Jenniffer he adds. "Its out of character for him to run. When the vampire is being hunted they always flee to their lair and make a final stand with the hunters. More likely he's got the place rigged. Probably got cameras and loudspeakers everywhere to f&+@ with people."
That said Thomas starts to make his way up to the front door.
After locking up her helmet in her bag, grabbing her sunglasses again, and taking a minute for her shadow to return, Nurai quietly looks around as she hears the others planning. Following from a distance as she sees others approach the door, she continues to examine the area with a casual smile behind her sunglasses.
No sounds comes from the house as you approach and knock. After a few minutes the front door opens with an impressive and dramatic creak. The clank of a chain hitting it's limit stops it from opening, and a pale figure peeks through the gap. "Yeah?"
An Aurora with messy hair and a lopsided smile tilted her head to look at the one who answered. "Oh, you are Jared, right? My friends and I were at the party earlier, and wow, it got so crazy, but, well, it ended and we were wondering what to do. You look like such an interesting guy, so, well, I wondered if we could get in, have a chat, spend some time together..."
She clutched her unnecessary jacket, trying to present her bosom in a flattering way, and shot him a flirty grin. And not a single word I said was untrue.
The man paused for a few moments, thinking. "Yeah, yeah, I saw you a few minutes before I left." The door partially closed as the chain was slid off and the door opened more. Jared looked worn, dark circles under his eyes. "Look, normally I'm all for partying until sunrise, but something isn't sitting right in me right now. It's nice you came all the way out here, but..." He paused. "How did you know my address?"
"Hey, you're a pretty well-known guy, and this place looks like it couldn't be anyone's but yours!" She licked her lips and fluttered her eyelids in her most flirtatious way. "Come on, don't leave me hanging here, I can make it worth your while..."
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"Damn, girl."
Obviously flattered and interested, the man shuffled indecisively. "Well...I guess I could chill for a little, while my stomach settles and all." He opened the door and shuffled to the side.
"Hey, you're not like...under eighteen, right?"
Nurai, standing behind the others where she had been examining with a careful eye the magic coming from the door, gave a loud chuckle that was almost half playful scoff, "Do we really look like the types to party with minors? You of all people should know how youth can be...deceiving?" Nurai continued with a broad smile, gently glowing eyes hiding behind her sunglasses as they looked about...
"Love what's been done with decor, particularly the door..." she commented, glancing around to the others. Sure it's only minor illusion magic, but that still felt odd and uncomfortable to Nurai particularly with all the effort in the rest of it. She took a slow step forward, hoping to all her mothers' deities that she didn't need any of her contingency plans as her focus returned to the Dhampir host.
Is the door trapped? Oh dear, I'll actually have to stay close to him...
"I'm nineteen, don't you worry!" Said Aurora brightly. "So, these guys are with me, the nice gal is Nurai, there's Tom the bartender, you know him, and here's Miyu, she's quite the charmer. Why don't you feel good? Drank too much?"
She stepped in confidently, looking around at the place.
"Wow! You live here alone? Wish I had that kind of dough, for sure!"
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Miyu waved slightly as she was introduced, but otherwise didn't do very much - predators tended to fixate a lot on things like prey and movement, and they only had so much attention to go around. Not getting involved meant he could stay focused on Aurora, and was less likely to get all skittish about things as he tried to juggle everyone.
"Oh, and she's Jennifer, don't let her looks fool you, she's wild."
"Oh, and she's Jennifer, don't let her looks fool you, she's wild."
Jennifer smirks at Jared. "Hey."
Jared looks around at the group in bemusement. "Hmmm? Yeah, sorta. I inherited it when my mother passed. My dad has a lot of cash, given the whole ancient thing, so he looked after her. I got what she didn't spend." Rubbing his stomach, he grimaced. [b]"I dunno what's up. Don't get stomach bugs. Maybe I just drank too much, or maybe something else. Come on in, then." Looking tired, he shuffled off into the house.
Nurai is glad for the protective darkness as surprise overtakes her for a moment. She takes a step back as her mind reels...this was certainly not what Nurai had expected.
She tries to casually pull out her phone, her fingers move quickly to type a message to Valda. Before sending it, she flicks the screen towards Tom so he can see what she wrote. She glances to him to see if he catches it and then back to the host walking away to see if Jared notices... there were only so many ways to pass around this kind of information with any subtlety especcially with strangers.
Waiting for the two ladies to cross the threshold Thomas catches it out of the corner of his eyes and snorts as if she shared something reactionary. Stepping in behind the ladies he pats the small of his back.and says casually.
"I only hope we dont have to. Her mother will never let us hear the end of it."
Calling Jared before he shuffles out of sight he says. "Valda was pretty worried about you when you left all of a sudden. Was afraid you might have gotten food poisoning. Hell of a party though. Got the fair folk all riled up. Makes it a bad night for a guy like you to be alone in the woods. Ive got some tums in the bag if you think itll help."
sense motive
perception